Does a person’s works figure in God’s Grace? The answer is that God’s Grace figures in a person’s works. How do we get grace? We have no control over when we receive His Grace, if we even receive it at all. 2 Timothy 1:9 says, “[God] saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus…”
To be sure, good works does not bring Grace, but grace brings good works. 1 Corinthians 15:10 says, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I WORKED HARDER THAN ANY OF THEM, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.”
Is there any relationship between works and salvation? Can a person’s works cause God to give him salvation? Doesn’t seem so, when you consider the criminal who was on a cross next to Jesus. He says to Jesus in Luke 23:42, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus responds in 43, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Keep in mind, this was a condemned criminal, who by his own words said to the other condemned criminal in 41, “we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds…” So, regardless of our works, good or bad, there is always hope for salvation from God, who waits to save us. Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and OPENS THE DOOR, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” The inference is that breaking bread with Jesus, or, more realistically, calling upon him through prayer, may increase the chance of God’s giving us salvation.
Some may wonder if, after years of evil works, a person need only say they accept Jesus as their lord and savior, to be saved. So one may ask, do we really have to strive for righteousness in order to obtain salvation? It gets a little more complicated.
Start with Jesus’ second great commandments…that we we love eachother as we love ourselves. I tell you that abiding by this commandment does not automatically earn us salvation. If mother Teresa was given salvation, was it because of the good things she did on earth? It was because she fulfilled God’s purpose for her, whatever that may be.
I tell you that the second commandment of Jesus is only meant to govern out behavior towards eachother while we are on earth. We are to live in the spirit of Christianity, since it promotes and preserves man that God created in Genesis. Would God confer on us any reward for that? Jesus’ second commandment is merely God’s expectation of us. And God may give each of us salvation if we don’t love eachother, if it is in accordance with His Purpose. But keep in mind that God didn’t see any purpose in the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, who happened to live lives of evil. Perhaps they would have been given salvation if they accepted god and what he stands for, in the same manner as the condemned criminal next to Jesus. We don’t know for sure what God’s purpose for anyone is.
In a sense, obtaining God’s salvation is like winning the lottery, notwithstanding that the chances of obtaining salvation are much more. Just as anyone can win the lottery, whether they be a clergyman or a career criminal, anyone might obtain God’s salvation by His Grace, if we accept the spirit of Jesus as our lord and savior.
To be sure, good works does not bring Grace, but grace brings good works. 1 Corinthians 15:10 says, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I WORKED HARDER THAN ANY OF THEM, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.”
Is there any relationship between works and salvation? Can a person’s works cause God to give him salvation? Doesn’t seem so, when you consider the criminal who was on a cross next to Jesus. He says to Jesus in Luke 23:42, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus responds in 43, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Keep in mind, this was a condemned criminal, who by his own words said to the other condemned criminal in 41, “we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds…” So, regardless of our works, good or bad, there is always hope for salvation from God, who waits to save us. Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and OPENS THE DOOR, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” The inference is that breaking bread with Jesus, or, more realistically, calling upon him through prayer, may increase the chance of God’s giving us salvation.
Some may wonder if, after years of evil works, a person need only say they accept Jesus as their lord and savior, to be saved. So one may ask, do we really have to strive for righteousness in order to obtain salvation? It gets a little more complicated.
Start with Jesus’ second great commandments…that we we love eachother as we love ourselves. I tell you that abiding by this commandment does not automatically earn us salvation. If mother Teresa was given salvation, was it because of the good things she did on earth? It was because she fulfilled God’s purpose for her, whatever that may be.
I tell you that the second commandment of Jesus is only meant to govern out behavior towards eachother while we are on earth. We are to live in the spirit of Christianity, since it promotes and preserves man that God created in Genesis. Would God confer on us any reward for that? Jesus’ second commandment is merely God’s expectation of us. And God may give each of us salvation if we don’t love eachother, if it is in accordance with His Purpose. But keep in mind that God didn’t see any purpose in the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, who happened to live lives of evil. Perhaps they would have been given salvation if they accepted god and what he stands for, in the same manner as the condemned criminal next to Jesus. We don’t know for sure what God’s purpose for anyone is.
In a sense, obtaining God’s salvation is like winning the lottery, notwithstanding that the chances of obtaining salvation are much more. Just as anyone can win the lottery, whether they be a clergyman or a career criminal, anyone might obtain God’s salvation by His Grace, if we accept the spirit of Jesus as our lord and savior.